HARRISBURG , Pennsylvania's capital, lies on the Susquehanna River
thirty or so miles northwest of Lancaster City. It's a surprisingly
attractive small city, lined with shuttered colonial buildings and well
complemented by its kitsch Chocolatetown neighbor Hershey . Harrisburg
is also known as the site of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility,
which stands along the river on the east side of town, and suffered a
famous meltdown in the 1970s.
The ornate capitol at Third and State is undeniably beautiful; at its
dedication in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt called it "the handsomest
building I ever saw." Italian Renaissance in style, it has a dome
modeled after St Peter's in Rome (Mon-Sat 9am-4pm; free). The complex
includes the archeological and military artifacts, decorative arts,
tools and machinery exhibited in the free four-floor State Museum of
Pennsylvania , a cylindrical building that holds a planetarium, at Third
and North (Tues-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; free). But undoubtedly the
real attraction here is the excellent new National Civil War Museum , at
Lincoln Circle off Market Street (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm;
$7; tel 717/260-1861). Almost 730,000 Americans were killed in the Civil
War - more than in all other conflicts since the Revolution combined -
and the museum offers an intelligent analysis of the reasons for, and
results of, the war. Especially evocative are the fictionalized
monologues, playing on video screens in every gallery, that focus on the
human cost of the conflict. There's also a good terrace café with great
views across the city.
One of the best ways to spend a Harrisburg afternoon is to cross the
Susquehanna along the Walnut Street footbridge and stroll through City
Island , a waterfront development with vast sports facilities (including
a family-filled concrete beach, a baseball stadium and a football
ground), shady picnic areas, regular festivals and concerts and
paddlewheeler rides (May-Oct; call 717/234-6500 for schedule; $5).
HERSHEY , ten miles east, was built in 1903 by candy magnate Milton S
Hershey for his chocolate factory - so it has streets named Chocolate
and Cocoa avenues, streetlamps in the shape of Hershey's Chocolate
Kisses and air rich with the smell of cocoa. Hershey Chocolate World
(daily 9am-4.45pm; longer hours in summer; tel 717/534-4900) offers a
free mini-train ride through a simulated chocolate factory (accompanied
by sugary, piped warblings of It's a Chocolate, Chocolate World ). Those
not content with the free sample given out at the end can gorge
themselves in the vast gift and souvenir shops and cafés.
Hersheypark , which began in 1907 as a picnic ground for Hershey factory
workers, is now a huge, if poorly organized amusement park with roller
coasters and sundry other rides (mid-May to Sept daily hours vary;
$27.95; tel 717/534-3090 or 1-800/HERSHEY). The adjacent Hershey Museum
of American Life has exhibits on the Pennsylvania Dutch and tells the
Milton S. Hershey story (daily 10am-5pm; $6).
Twenty-five miles south of Harrisburg, the blue-collar town of YORK is
home to the final assembly plant of Harley-Davidson . The company runs
free tours of its factory and is set to open a full-scale museum in late
2002 (Mon-Fri; call 1-877/746-7937).
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